•I i 



Q^(b \t)^b vU^ss mif 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
Franklin K. Lane, Secretary 



United States Geological Survey 

George Otis Smith, Director 



WATER-SUPPLY Paper 425— B 



GROUND WATER FOR IRRIGATION 

IN 

LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYOMING AND NEBRASKA 



OSCAR E. :meinzer 



Contributions to the hydrology of the United States, 1917 
(Pages 37-69) 

Issued September 14, 1917 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1917 



Monograph 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Franklin K. Lane, Secretary 



United States Geological Survey 

George Otis Smith, Director 



Water-Supply Paper 425— B 



GROUND WATER FOR IRRIGATION 

IN 

LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYOMING AND NEBRASKA 



BY 

OSCAR E. IVIEINZER 



Contributions to the hydrology of the United States, 1917 
( Pages 37-69 ) 

Issued September 14, 1917 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1917 






CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Introduction 37 

Location and character of valley 37 

Purpose and scope of investigation 38 

Physiography 38 

Geology 39 

Precipitation 42 

Surface waters 43 

Water in alluvial gravel and subjacent beds 47 

Occurrence 47 

The water table 47 

Source and disposal 50 

Quality 52 

Data concerning wells 56 

Laramie County, Wyo 56 

Kimball County, Nebr 57 

Cheyenne County, Nebr 58 

Deuel County, Nebr 60 

Water in Tertiary formations 61 

Water in Cretaceous and older formations 63 

Irrigation with ground water 64 

Cost of pumping for irrigation in western Nebraska, by H. C. Diesem 67 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page. 
Plate IV. Map of Lodgepole Valley in Laramie County, Wyo., showing 

geology and ground-water conditions 40 

V. Map of Lodgepole Valley in Kimball and Cheyenne counties, Nebr., 

showing ground-water conditions 64 

VI. Map of Lodgepole Valley in Deuel County, Nebr., showing ground- 
water conditions 66 

Figure 3. Map showing the drainage basin of Lodgepole Creek and adjacent 

areas 37 

n 

D. Of D. 
SEP '27: 1917 



t^ 



GROUND WATER FOR IRRIGATION IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, 
WYOMING AND NEBRASKA. 



By Oscar E. Meinzer. 



INTRODUCTION. 

LOCATION AND CHARACTER OF VALLEY. 

Lodgepole Creek rises in the Laramie Mountains, in Wyoming, and 
flows eastward and southeastward across the Great Plains to its 
junction with South Platte River. (See fig. 3.) Its course across the 




Figure 3.— Map showing the drainage basin of Lodgepole Creek and adjacent areas. 

plains, not including meanders, is about 165 miles long, of which 
65 miles is in Wyoming, 95 miles in Nebraska, and 5 miles in Colo- 
rado. Its valley resembles other valleys of the Great Plains in that 
it is a flat-bottomed, steep-sided trench, formed by stream erosion 
and later partly refilled by stream sedimentation. 

Lodgepole Valley is traversed by the main line of the Union Pacific 
Railroad from Egbert, Wyo., to the place at which it opens into the 
broad, flat valley of the South Platte above Julesburg, Colo., and 
by the Lincoln Highway from Egbert, Wyo., to Chappell, Nebr. It 
is crossed at Sidney, Nebr., by the Chicago, Bmlington & Quincy 
Railroad, and near the mountains by the Colorado & Southern Rail- 
way. Along the Union Pacific line in Lodgepole Valley there are 
many ranches and several towns, the largest of which is the enter- 

37 



38 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

prising little city of Sidney. Thirty miles west of Egbert the Union 
Pacific line passes through Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming. Above 
Egbert the valley is settled only at a few cattle and sheep ranches. 

PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF INVESTIGATION. 

In recent years the residents of Lodgepole Valley have been inter- 
ested in projects for extending irrigation by pumping shallow ground 
water or by discovering artesian water, and have repeatedly requested 
the Federal Government to investigate the subject. It has not been 
practicable for the Geological Survey to make a thorough study of 
the ground-water supply of this valley, but in September, 1915, the 
writer made a brief field investigation, the general results of which 
are presented in this paper. The data on cost of pumping for irriga- 
tion, by H. C. Diesem (pp. 67-69), were generously furnished by the 
division of irrigation investigations, Ofhce of Public Roads and Rural 
Engineering, United States Department of Agriculture. 

PHYSIOGRAPHY. 

The drainage basin of Lodgepole Creek comprises a long, narrow 
belt between the much larger basins of the North Platte and the 
South Platte, from which it is separated by inconspicuous divides. 
It is about 175 miles long, 12^ miles in average width, and approxi- 
mately 2,200 square miles in area.^ It includes narrow segments of 
two very distinct physiographic provinces, the Laramie Mountains 
and the Great Plains. The mountain segment is about 13 miles 
long and 5 miles in average width, and comprises about 65 square 
miles, or 3 per cent of the total drainage basin. All the rest of the 
drainage basin is in the Great Plains. The mountain segment ranges 
in altitude from about 7,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level; the upland 
surface of the plains segment from about 7,000 feet near the moun- 
tain front to less than 4,000 feet near the mouth of Lodgepole Greek. 

The steep-walled, flat-bottomed valley that the creek has cut into 
the generally smooth surface of the plains averages about 1^ miles 
in width and ranges in depth from less than 100 feet to fully 250 feet. 

The flood plain of the creek is bordered by terraces that stand at 
different elevations. In the upper part of the valley there are two 
rather definite terrace levels. In the vicinity of Ariosa and Pole 
Creek ranches the first terrace is about 15 feet above the stream, or 10 
feet above the flood plain, and the second terrace is 30 to 50 feet above 
the stream. Below Pinebluff the second terrace is about 65 feet above 
the stream, and is well marked throughout most of Kimball County. 
In the vicinity of Sidney there is but one distinct terrace, and it is 
only 10 to 20 feet above the flood plain. 

The upland surface of the Great Plains is interrupted by two promi- 
nent escarpments, about 250 feet high, one near Islay and the other 

» Price. D.. D. Nebraska Board of Irrigation, Highways, and Drainage Tenth Bienn. Kept., p, 37, 1914. 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 



39 



near Pinebluff. These escarpments trend traAsverse to the course 
of the valley and face the west. On the west side of each is a low, 
flat plain that coincides in level with the floor of Lodgepole Valley 
and forms essentially an expanded part of the valley. The upland on 
the east side of each escarpment is a part of the general surface of the 
Great Plains, which slopes gently toward the east. The descent from 
the upland surface east of the Islay escarpment to the lowland surface 
on the west side of the Pinebluff escarpment is for the most part 
gradual, but there is an east-facing escarpment of some prominence 
in the vicinity of Egbert. These escarpments appear to be erosion 
features in the nature of hogbacks. The valley is deepest and narrow- 
est where Lodgepole Creek cuts through the upland back of the Islay 

escarpment. 

GEOLOGY. 

Lodgepole Valley is underlain by sedimentary formations of great 
aggregate thickness, which rest on pre-Cambrian granite and other 
crystalline rocks. The following generalized section of these forma- 
tions in the vicinity of the Laramie Mountains in southeastern 
Wyoming is given by Darton and Siebenthal.^ The Ogalalla forma- 
tion, which occurs extensively along Lodgepole Valley, has been 
added to the section. 

Generalized section of formations that outcrop in the vicinity of the Laramie Mountains 
and extend beneath the Great Plains. 
[After N. H. Darton and C. E. Siebenthal.] 



System. 


Formation. 


Character of rocks. 


Thickness, 
in feet. 


Tertiary 


Ogalalla formation o . 
Arikaree formation. . 
Brule clay 


Poorly assorted deposits of olav, sand, and 

gravel with much calcareous cement. 
Sand, gravel, and boulder beds, with local 

limestone lens. 
Massive pinkish sandy clay, with gravelly 

streaks. 
Massive brown sandstone, merging into sand 

and gravel. 


0-300 
200-250 




250 




.Chadron sandstone.. 


20-100 




Fox Hills sandstone. 
Pierre shale 


Gray sandstone and sandy shale 


700-1- 




Dark-gray shale with thin beds of sandstone 

Impure chalky limestone and gray limy shale; 


5,000 

325-400 

700-1,000 

70-100 


Cretaceous 


Niobrara limestone.. 

Benton shale 

ICloverly formation.. 




Gray shale and some sandstone 

Hard gray sandstone and purple to gray sandy 
clay. [Includes Dakota sandstone at top.] 


Cretaceous or Jurassic . . . 


Morrison formation. . 


Massive pale green to maroon shale with tliin 
limestones and sandstones. 


150-200 


Jurassic 


Sundance formation. 


Buff slabby sandstone and sandy gray shale 


30-60 






Triassic or Permian 


Chugwater formation 


Red sandy shale and fine-grained sandstone, 
and beds of gypsum near base. 


80-1,000 


Carboniferous. . 


Casper formation 


Gray to red sandstone, gray to purple Ume- 
stone, and red shale. Gray to reddish brown 
sandstone and conglomerate at base. 


800 1 000 






Pre-Cambrian 




Granite, gneiss, schist 













o This formation is not found near the Laramie Mountains but occurs extensively on the plains adjacent 
to Lodgepole Valley. 



» Darton, N. H., Blackwelder, Eliot, and Siebenthal, C. E., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Laramie- 
Sherman folio (No. 173), 1910. 



40 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OP UNITED STATES, 1917. 

Below the Great Plains the formations older than the Tertiary lie 
nearly horizontal, but in a narrow belt along the edge of the moun- 
tains they are bent sharply upward and in some places overturned, 
faulted, or complexly warped. The Tertiary beds are nearly hori- 
zontal in this region, not only below the Great Plains, where they 
completely conceal the older formations, but also near the mountains, 
where to some extent they overlap the deformed and eroded edges of 
the older formations. In some parts of western Nebraska the Cre- 
taceous strata younger than the Pierre shale are absent and the 
Tertiary beds rest on this shale. ^ 

As the Tertiary formations are important in connection with the 
ground water of this region, they will be briefly described. 

The Chadron sandstone, which lies at the bottom of the Tertiary 
system, crops out near the Laramie Mountains, where it is a bed 20 
to 40 feet thick overlapping the older formations.^ Eastward it 
passes under the Brule clay, but whether it is a continuous formation 
in the vicinity of Lodgepole Valley is not known. 

The Brule clay is a moderately hard, compact, brittle, silty clay, 
prevaihngly pale pinkish or flesh color. It has indistinct but regular 
bedding planes, and where it is weathered it is much jointed and 
broken into more or less cubical blocks. This is the formation that 
many of the drillers in Lodgepole Valley call "hardpan." 

The Brule clay is at or near the surface over most of the Islay low- 
land between the Islay escarpment and the older formations that 
fringe the mountains (PI. IV). It forms the lower part of this 
escarpment, outcropping to a height of about 70 feet in a locality 
southeast of the Van Tassell ranch, but it passes beneath the upland 
east of the escarpment and beneath the vaUey 2 or 3 miles east of the 
Heasman ranch. It again appears in the vicinity of Egbert, 45 
miles farther east, where it is reached by the Egbert Railway well 
(p. 56) and comes to the surface at the base of the eastward 
facing escarpment (PI. IV). It is at or near the surface over a con- 
siderable area of the Pinebluff lowland, from the Egbert escarpment 
to the Pinebluff escarpment. It crops out to a height of about 150 
feet in the Pinebluff escarpment south of the village of Pinebluff but 
passes beneath the upland plain east of this escarpment. This for- 
mation apparently underlies the valley at no great depth throughout 
Nebraska, a distance of over 90 miles, and it is exposed at many places 
in the lower parts of the valley walls. 

As the base of the Brule clay is not exposed except near the moun- 
tains and has rarely been reached in drilling in this region, the total 
thickness of the formation is not definitely known. Thicknesses of 

Darton, N. H., Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Nebraska west of the one 
hondred and third meridian: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 17, pi. 11, 1903. 

2 Darton, N. H., Blackwelder, Eliot, and Siebenthal, C, E., U. S. Gflol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Laramie- 
Sherman folio (No. 173), p. 10, 1910. 




WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 425 PLATE IV 



nation 



"u,M 



T.I5N. 



Ogalalla 
f^ i^ formation 




, WYO., SHOWING GEO 



T.I5N. 



|T.14Nl. 



R.60 W. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/groundwaterforirOOmein 



GROUND WATER IN LOEKJEPOLE VALLEY^ WYO.-NEBR. 41 

250 to more than 600 feet have been observed by Darton * in adja- 
cent parts of Nebraska and Wyoming. In a well 400 feet deep at 
Julesburg, Colo., 160 feet of ''yellow clay/' which is probably Brule 
clay, was found below the alluvial gravels. Below this clay there 
was a few inches of sand, below which blue shale — probably a Cre- 
taceous formation — was penetrated 200 feet. 

The Arikaree formation consists mainly of soft, fine-grained, light 
gray sandstone containing numerous large concretions that are very 
characteristic.^ It appears in typical character in the Egbert escarp- 
ment and for some miles west of Egbert, outcropping in the valley 
\ alls at least as far as the middle of T. 15 N., R. 64 W., and in tribu- 
tary ravines a few miles west of Burns (PI. IV). It is penetrated by 
many weUs in the valley and on the upland from the vicinity of 
Egbert to the vicinity of the Pole Creek ranch. It is generally 
mantled by gravelly deposits, which west of the Pole Creek ranch 
'orm the entire valley wall and completely conceal the typical sand- 
stone of the Arikaree formation. The Arikaree formation is not 
seen in the Pinebluff escarpment, nor at any point farther east near 
Lodgepole Valley. It is not found in typical character in the Islay 
escarpment, but the gravelly beds overlying the Brule clay are 
beheved by Darton^ to represent a coarse phase of the Arikaree. 
The fine-grained concretionary sandstone appears to be merely a 
lens between the Brule clay and overlying gravelly deposits. 

The Ogalalla formation, which lies on the Brule or the Arikaree, 
consists of irregular beds of poorly assorted clayey, sandy, and 
gravelly materials, and much calcareous cement. The less cemented 
parts are pinkish, but the calcareous beds are more nearly white or 
cream-colored. This formation underhes extensive areas of the 
Great Plahis. It is exposed in the upper 100 feet of the Pinebluff 
escarpment and in the upper parts of the valley walls generally from 
Pinebluff nearly to the lower end of the valley. In the entire region 
adjacent to Lodgepole Valley east of Pinebluff, so far as known, the 
Ogalalla formation underlies the upland plain and rests on the Brule 
clay. 

In the Islay escarpment southeast of the Van Tassel ranch the Brule 
clay is overlain by 70 feet of clean arkosic conglomerate, above which 
is about 40 feet of cemented gravelly beds, which resemble somewhat 
the Ogalalla formation but which are believed by Darton to be for 
the most part a gravelly phase of the Arikaree. Three miles below 
the Heasman ranch the entire vaUey wall, 250 feet high, appears to 

1 Darton, N H Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Nebraska west of the on'e 
hundred and third meridian: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 17, pp. 37-40, 1903; and Darton, N. H. Black- 
welder, Ehot, and Siebenthal, C. E., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Laramie-Sherman folio (No. 173) 1910 
An excellent description of this sandstone is given in Prof. Paper 17, pp 25-29 

3 Darton, N.H Blackwelder, Eliot, and Siebenthal, C. E., U. S. Geol. Suin ey Geol. Atlas, Laramie- 
Sherman foho (No. 173), p. 11, 1910. 



42 



CONTEIBUTIONS TO HYDKOLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 



consist of poorly assorted gravelly and clayey beds — evidently coarse 
outwash from the near-by mountains. These gravelly deposits 
extend eastward indefinitely but become much thinner in the vicinity 
of Burns and Egbert, where at many places they rest with sharp 
contrast on the very different beds of the typical Arikaree formation. 

The valley is underlain through almost its entire length by recent 
alluvium, which generally includes considerable coarse, clean gravel. 
The deposit is, however, not thick, the well records indicating 10 to 
15 feet at Pinebluff ; 35 to 50 feet or more at Bushnell, Kimball, and 
Potter; 25 feet at Sidney; 20 to 30 feet at Zunol; 15 to 20 feet at 
Lodgepole; 35 feet at Chappell; and 40 feet at Julesburg. On much 
of the Islay lowland and the lowland between Egbert and Pinebluff 
the alluvium is absent or very thin. At some places below Egbert 
the creek has cut into the Brule clay. 

A gravelly deposit that is probably intermediate in age between 
the Ogalalla formation and the recent alluvium covers a consider- 
able area of lowland west of Islay, and gravels of intermediate age 
are found also on the terraces throughout the valley. 

PRECIPITATION. 

The following table, compiled from the published records of the 
United States Weather Bureau to 1909, shows that Lodgepole 
Valley is in the semiarid region, in which dry farming is practiced 
but in which production can be greatly increased by irrigation. The 
precipitation is greatest in spring and summer and least in fall and 
winter. It is no doubt somewhat greater in the mountains than on 
the plains, but on the plains it does not decrease very much from 
east to west. The precipitation in the valley is probably not much 
different from that on the adjacent upland. 



Average monthly precipitation, in inches, at points in or near Lodgepole Valley. 
[Compiled from the published records of the U. S. Weather Bureau to 1909.] 



Place. 


Ap-. 
proxi- 
mate 
length 
of rec- 
ord. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May. 


June. 


July. 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Cheyemie 


Years. 
39 
9 
19 

29 


0.38 
.16 
.45 

.46 


0.54 
.62 
.66 

.59 


0.98 
1.16 
1.09 

.91 


1.73 
2.51 
2.08 

1.80 


2.48 
2.51 
2.70 

2.75 


1.65 

1.88 
2.12 

1.73 


2.06 
2.58 
2.71 

2.51 


1.47 
1.48 
1.42 

1.91 


1.00 
1.00 
.91 

1.04 


0.71 
.73 
.63 

.74 


0.41 
.31 

.42 

.25 


0.39 


Pinebluff 


.45 


Kimball 


.54 


Sidney and Lodge- 


.38 







o Lodgepole since 1894. 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 43 

Lowest, highest, and average annual precipitation at points in or near Lodgepole Valley. 



Place. 


Number 

of com- 
plete 
years 

covered 
by the 

record. 


Lowest. 


Highest. 


Average. 


r,hp,yp,TiTift 


37 
8 
15 
20 


Iriches. 
5.04 
10.90 
11.13 
7.70 


Inches. 
22.68 
26.24 
25.59 
26.92 


Inches. 
13.80 


Pineblufl 


15.29 


Kimball 


15.74 




15.07 







SURFACE WATERS. 

The north and south forks of Lodgepole Creek head in a number of 
branches in the Laramie Mountains and unite on the Islay lowland at 
the Van Tassell ranch. Thence the creek leads to South Platte River, 
into which it discharges about 5 miles above Julesburg, Colo. The 
length of the creek from its sources to its mouth is about 175 miles if 
measured along the main trend of the valley but much more if meas- 
ured along its intricately meandering channel. In its long course 
through the Great Plains it receives storm waters from innumerable 
gullies and the underflow from numerous tributary valle3^s and no 
doubt from the adjacent uplands, but only a few of its tributaries 
carry a perennial flow of surface water, and these are small. 

Lodgepole Creek does not persistently decrease in volume down- 
stream, like most desert streams, nor does it persistently increase, like 
most streams in humid regions, but its flow increases and decreases in 
alternating reaches and in three reaches its channel is normally dry. 
No gaging station has been maintained on Lodgepole Creek, but 
current-meter measurements have frequently been made at many 
places by the LTnited States Geological Survey and the State engineer 
of Nebraska, the results of which are given in the table on page 46. 
At the time the vaUey was examined, in September, 1915, the flow of 
the creek was measured or estimated at the points indicated below. 
The differences in flow were due to some extent to diversions that were 
not specifically noted. 

About half a mile above the Heasman ranch, where the creek leaves 
the Islay lowland and enters the gorgelike vaUey, its flow, as meas- 
ured with a current meter, was about 7J second-feet, most of the 
water being contributed by branches that head in the mountains and 
little gain or loss being made on the Islay lowland. From this point 
to the diversion dam, about 14 miles downstream, in the NE. I sec. 
36, T. 16 N., R. 67 W. (see PL IV), the flow appeared to decrease 
slightly. At this dam the surface water and presumably nearly all 
the underflow was diverted, the total being probably somewhat less 
than the flow above the Heasman ranch. For a short distance below 
91729°— 17 2 



44 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

the dam the channel was dry, but at the Ariosa and Pole Creek 
ranches the flow was fully 1 second-foot. A few miles below the Pole 
Creek ranch, however, the stream disappeared and the channel was 
dry for a distance of nearly 10 miles. 

From a springy area near the west margin of sec. 26, T. 15 N., 
R. 64 W., to a point north of Egbert, in sec. 13, T. 14 N., R. 62 W., 
a distance of about 15 miles, there was a continuous stream, which, 
however, probably nowhere carried more than 1 or 2 second-feet. 
From Egbert to its junction with Muddy Creek, just southwest of 
Pinebluff, a distance of a little more than 10 miles, Lodgepole Creek 
was entirely dry, and the fact that its channel in this stretch is cut 
through the alluvium into the Brule clay indicates that there is but 
little underflow here. 

At Pinebluff, a short distance west of the Wyoming-Nebraska State 
line, Lodgepole Creek is replenished by two tributaries, both of which 
rise on the Great Plains. In September, 1915, Muddy Creek, the 
south-side tributary, discharged approximately 1 second-foot, and 
Spring Creek, the north-side tributary, discharged approximately 3 
second-feet into the channel of Lodgepole Creek. Considerable 
underflow along these streams also entered Lodgepole Creek, so that 
2 miles below the mouth of Spring Creek, at the road half a mile east 
of the State line, the measured flow of Lodgepole Creek was about 
6 second-feet. 

In September, 1915, Lodgepole Creek contained flowing water 
from its junction with Muddy Creek nearly to Dix, a distance of about 
33 miles. It was intercepted by the Kimball reservoir, in T. 15 N., 
R. 57 W., but some water was escaping under the dam of this reservoir. 
Half a mile below the dam its flow was fuUy 2 second-feet, and at 
Kimball it had increased to more than 6 second-feet, as measured 
with a current meter. Farther downstream, at the west margin of 
sec. 25, T. 15 N., R. 55 W., its flow decreased to about 3 second-feet, 
and at the west margin of sec. 27, T. 15 N., R. 54 W., to about 1 
second-foot, and before reaching the road that extends northward 
from Dix the channel became entirely dry. 

The channel was dry from the vicinity of Dix to a point below 
Potter, a distance of about 12 miles, but this part of the vafley is 
xmderlain by gravel and no doubt carries considerable underflow. 

The stream reappeared in sec. 9, T. 14 R., R. 52 W., and thence 
flowed without interruption so far as observed at least to the Colorado 
State line. It was reported that near its mouth the creek again sinks, 
at least in some seasons, but this report was not verified. About 
midway between the east and west margins of sec. 2, T. 14 N., 
R. 52 W., 2 or 3 miles below the point w^here the creek reappeared, 
its flow was somewhat more than 4 second-feet, as measured with a 
current meter, and at Sidney it was about 6 second-feet. Below 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 



45 



Sidney it showed some irregularities, but in the vicinity of Lodgepole 
it was enlarged to perhaps 10 second-feet by contributions from 
several springs and from the underflow of tributaries entering the 
valley from both sides. Farther downstream the flow decreased, 
and a float measurement made about a mile west of Chappell indicated 
that it was about 5 second-feet. Still farther downstream, however, 
it increased considerably, and in sec. 12, T. 12 N., E,. 45 W., not far 
from the Colorado State line, a float measurement indicated that it 
was about 15 second-feet. Apparently the amount of underflow also 
increased considerably in the lower part of the valley. According to 
older reports the creek is sometimes dry in the lower part of T. 14 N., 
R. 51 W., largely because of the diversion of water for irrigation,^ 
and near Colton, where the water sinks." The data given in the 
following table show that the creek is sometimes dry or very small 
at other places, but these minor fluctuations are in large part the 
result of irrigation : 



Miscellaneous measurements of Lodgepole Creek, Wyo 


-Nebr.c 




Locality. 


Date. 


Flow, in 
second- 
feet. 


NE. \ sec. 23, T. 16 N., R. 69 W.d 


Sept. 17,1915 
Aug. —,1895 
May 2, 1904 
Sept. 21,1915 
May 2,1904 
July 30,1901 
May 3,1904 
Aug. 8,1900 
May 26,1900 
June 3,1903 
Aug. 10,1900 
June 1,1903 
June 2, 1903 
May 25,1900 
July 2, 1902 
June 1,1903 
July 23,1903 
Apr. 28,1904 
Apr. 30,1904 
May 5, 1904 
July 31,1901 
Aug. 9,1899 
July 23,1903 
Sept. 8,1904 
May 27,1903 
Apr. 25,1903 
May 29,1903 
July 2, 1902 
July 2:3,1903 
Sept. 10,1900 
Aug. 9,1899 
Sept. 10,1900 
.do 


7.45 


Wyoming-Nebraska State line 


3 50 


Do 


4.30 


West margin sec. 12, T. 14 N., R. 59 W.rf.. . . . 


6.09 


One mile east of Wyoming-Nebraska State line 


4 60 


Sec. 12, T. 14 N., R. 59 W 


2.90 


Sec 8, T. 14 N., R. 5S W . 


34 50 


Sec. 3, T. 14N.,R.58W 


6.23 


Sec. 2, T. 14 N., R. 58 W . . . 


9 23 


Do 


10.1 


Sec. 33, T. 15N., R. 57 W 


12.34 


Sec. 31, T. 15 N., R. 57 W.. 


15 8 


Sec. 33, T. 15N.,R.57W 


12.8 


Sec. 36, T. 15N., R. 57 W 


4 75 


Sec. 31, T. 15 N., R. 56 W.. 


10 5 


Do 


12.5 


Do. 


5 


West line sec. 33, T. 15 N., R. 56 W 


14.4 


Do 


12 4 


Do. 


48 2 


Sec. 27, T. 15N., R. 56 W 


6.2 


Four miles west of Kimball .... 


7 43 


Three miles below sec. 31, T. 15 N., R. 56 W 


7.5 


Three miles west of Kimball 


8 6 


Sec. 35, T. 15 N., R. 56W.- 


31 3 


Sec. 26, T. 15N.,R.56W 


16.6 


Do 


31 


Sec. 25, T. 15 N., R. 56 W 


7.5 


West line sec. 25, T. 15 N., R. 56 W 


7.4 


One mile west of Kimball 


1.29 


Do 


2.41 


Above Polly Dam, sec. 30, T. 15 N., R. 56 W. 


2 44 


Below Polly Dam at bridge 


1.13 


Sec. 30, T. 15N., R. 55 W 


Dec. 7, 1904 
May 26,1896 
Sept. 12,1900 
Sept. 15,1900 
Sept. 18,1900 
June 2, 1902 
June 15,1904 
Sept. 6, 1904 


25.6 


Kimball 


4 5 


Do 


4.92 


Do 


1.14 


Do 


4 3 


Do 


5.6 


Do 


2 1 


Do 


13.4 



a Darton, N. H., Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Nebraska west of theone 
hundred and third meridian: U. S. Geol. Sur\ey Nineteenth ^nn. Rept., pt. 4, p. 770, 1898. 

b Price, D. D., Nebraska Board of Irrigation, Highways, and Drainage Tenth Bienn. Rept., p. 36, 
1914. 

f See Hoyt, J. C, and Wood, B. D., Index to the hydrographic progress reports of the United States 
Geological Survey, 1888 to 1903, p. 127, 1905; and Price, D. D., Hydrographic report of Nebraska, 1914, 
pp. 333-335. 

d Measurements by 0. £. Melnzer. 



46 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

Miscellaneous measurements of Lodgepole Creek, Wyo.-Nehr. — Continued. 



Locality. 



Flow, in 
second- 
feet. 



West line sec. 29, T. 15 N., R. 55 W. 
Do 



Do.. 
Do.. 
Do.. 



Kimball o 

Three-fourths mile east of Kimball . 

Sec. 23, T. 15N.,R. 55W 

Sec. 26, T. 15N., R. 55W 

Do.. 



Sec. 25, T. 15 N., R. .55 W 

West line sec. 30, T. 15 N., R. 54 W 

West line sec. 3, T. 14 N.,R.52W 

Near west margin SE. i sec. 2, T. 14 N., R. 52 W.a 

Center sec. 8, T. 14 N., R. 51 W 

Do.. 



Sec. 9, T. 14N., R. 51 W 

Do 

Center sec. 9, T. 14 N., R. 51 W . 
Sec. 10, T. 14N.,R.51 W 



Do.. 



Center sec. 10, T. 14 N., R. 51 W. 

Sec. 14, T. 14N.,R. 51 W 

Do.. 



East line sec. 14, T. 14 N., R. 51 W. 

Sec. 15, T. 14N., R.51 W 

Sec. 20, T. 14 N., R. 50 W 

Sidney.. 



Sec. 33, T. 14 N., R. 49 W 

Do 

Three miles east of Sidney 

One-half mile west of Jones dam, sec. 34, T. 14 N., 

Sec. 29, T. 14N., R. 48W 

Sec. 31, T. 14N.,R. 47W 

Do.. 



Sec. 29, T. 14N., R.47W 

Sec. 36, T. 14N., R. 47W 

Lodgepole station 

Sec. 31, T. 14N.,R. 46W 

East line sec. 31, T. 41 N., R. 46 W. 

Sec.3,T. 13N.,R. 46 W 

Sec. 2, T. 13N.,R. 46 W 

Chappell 

Sec. 36, T. 13N.,R.45W 

Sec. 3, T. 12N.,R.45W 

Sec. 12, T. 12N., R. 45 W 



July 24,1903 

Oct. 30,1903 

Nov. 7, 1903 

Nov. 16,1903 

May 4,1904 

Sept. 23, 1915 

Aug. 11,1899 

Aug. 9, 1900 

Apr. 24,1903 

July 24,1903 

Apr. 25,1902 

July 24,1903 

July 25,1903 

Sept. 23, 1915 

July 25,1903 

Apr. 27,1904 

July 1.1901 

July 25,1903 

Apr. 27,1904 

June 18,1903 

July 25,1903 

Apr. 27,1904 

May 17,1900 

Aug. 17,1900 

July 25,1903 

do 

Dec. 7, 1904 

July 1,1901 

May 15,1900 

Aug. 14,1900 

May 15,1899 

May 15,1900 

July 2, 1901 

May 18,1900 

Aug. 16,1900 

July 2, 1901 

Apr. 13,1902 

'^ ■ 8,1900 
3,1901 
8, 1904 
;i,1900 

Aug. 22,1900 

Oct. IS, 1900 

Aug. 7, 1900 

Aug. 10.1900 

May 22,1900 



Oct. 

July 
Sept. 
May 



6.6 
15. 5 
21.6 
20.4 
20.5 
6.2 
2.09 
6.34 
12.64 
4.6 
12.0 
.0 
3.2 
4.20 
3.5 
8.62 
5.6 
3.8 
6.62 
5.4 
3.8 
7.25 
2.34 
2.35 
.0 
2.9 
4.4 
6.7 
3.86 
6.42 
10. 95 
6.26 
4.0 
2.6 
2.5 
2.2 
4.0 
2.12 
3.4 
3.3 
2.26 
2.85 
3.11 
3.12 
1.34 
1.33 



a Measurements by O. E. Meinzer. 

According to State Engineer Price, Lodgepole Creek is noted for 
its early spring floods, due to melting snows and heavy spring rains. 
The largest flow that has been measured was 48 second-feet, but 
Mr. Price states that during short flood stages the flow greatly 
exceeds this amount.^ In the upper part of its course, where it 
receives its water from the mountains, the creek fluctuates greatly 
in volume, but these fluctuations have little effect on the flow in 
the lower parts of the stream. Near Egbert the flood waters sink 
rapidly into the gravels, and the freshets rarely get far except in 
winter, when the ground is frozen. At no time during the summer 
of 1915 did the water flow across the road leading northward from 
Egbert. It is reported that at Potter no water flows in the creek 
bed even during heavy rains, and the infrequency of floods is indi- 
cated by the fact that there is a well on the bed of the creek and a 
house hardly 5 feet higher. 



1 Price, D. D., op. cit., p. 37. 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 47 

WATER IN ALLUVIAL GRAVEL AND SUBJACENT BEDS. 

OCCURRENCE. 

The alluvial gravel in Lodgepole Valley and the porous or cavern- 
ous parts of the formations immediately under the gravel form a 
reservoir in which is stored a part of the water that falls as rain or 
snow in the valley. The alluvial gravel is generally clean and coarse 
and therefore can hold much water and yield it freely, as is shown 
by records of such wells as the city wells of Kimball, Sidney, and 
Chappell, the railroad well at Chappell, and the irrigation well of 
Mr.Gus Forsling. (See pp. 56-61.) Its total capacity as a reservoir 
is, however, limited by the shallowness of the alluvial deposit, espe- 
cially in the Islay and Pin eb luff lowlands. 

In most of the valley below Egbert the alluvial gravel is underlain 
by Brule clay, locally known as ^'hardpan.'^ In general this forma- 
tion is a poor water bearer, but at many places where it underlies 
the gravel it appears to yield water very freely, as is indicated by 
the records of the city well at Pinebluff , the railroad weUs at Egbert 
and Pinebluff, the Campbell irrigation weU, and other weUs men- 
tioned on pages 56-61. This capacity to yield water freely appears 
to be due to joints or other crevices in the clay where it lies below 
the alluvial gravel. The storage capacity of these crevices is, how- 
ever, probably not great, so that the clay is dependent on the over- 
lying gravel for reserve supplies. Where the gravel deposit is very 
thin, as in the Pinebluff lowland and along the margins of the valley 
generally, the Brule clay is not always a reliable source of water, 
and some weUs that end in it yield only smaU amounts. 

Between Egbert and the Pole Creek ranch the alluvial gravel is 
underlain by sandstone of the Arikaree formation, which contains 
much water but which, on account of its fine grain and its incoherence, 
does not part with its water so freely as the gravel or the vesicular 
clay. By using coarse screens, cleaning out the weUs thoroughly, 
and inserting gravel if necessary, large supplies could probably be 
obtained from this formation. 

The sections of the city and railroad weUs at Potter suggest that 
the water-bearing beds which there lie below the alluvium may belong 
to the Ogalalla formation. Both these wells yield the large quantities 
of water that would be expected from wells that end in gravel beds 
of the Ogalalla formation. 

THE WATER TABLE. 

The underground reservoir formed by the gravel, sand, and vesicu- 
lar clay is filled with water about to the level at which the water stands 
in wells. The water table, or surface below which the deposits are 
saturated, is, of course, not entirely level but slopes downstream 
with approximately the same grade as the valley floor, and also no 



48 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 191*7. 

doubt generally slopes from the margins of the valley toward the 
stream channel. The average grade of the water table is about 27.5 
feet per mile from the junction of the north and south forks of Lodge- 
pole Creek to the Wyoming-Nebraska State line, 16 feet per mile in 
Kimball County, 15 feet per mile in Cheyenne County, and 15 feet 
per mile in Deuel County. 

The depth to the water table is one of the most important factors 
determining the lift and therefore the cost of pumping. The water 
table comes practically to the surface along those parts of Lodgepole 
Creek in which water is flowing, as is indicated by springs, wet ground, 
and salt grass. It generally passes beneath the surface on each side 
of the creek and also in the reaches where the creek is dry. 

According to the rapid survey made in September, 1915, the floor 
of Lodgepole Valley, including the terraces, covers about 150,000 
acres. In about 60,000 acres of this area the depth to the water 
table is less than 25 feet, and in most of the rest it is less than 50 
feet. The area in which the water table is less than 25 feet below 
the surface is distributed about as follows: Laramie County, 15,500 
acres; Kimball County, 10,500 acres; Cheyenne County, 23,500 acres; 
Deuel County, 10,500 acres. 

In the dry reach below the Pole Creek ranch the depth to the water 
table increases for several miles down the valley and then gradually 
decreases. On September 14, 1915, the water in a well in the NE. I 
sec. 20, T. 15 N., R. 64 W., stood 18 feet below the surface, or about 
8 feet below the level of the stream channel, and that in a well in the 
SE. i sec. 26, T. 15 N., R. 64 W., stood 17 feet below the surface, or 
about 7 feet below the level of the dry channel. Along the channel 
in sec. 26 there are trees that evidently reach ground water, and at 
the east margin of the section the ground water reappears in springs. 

In September, 1915, the second dry reach began in sec. 13, T. 14 N., 
R. 62 W., and it was reported that in only one summer in recent 
years has the stream reached the east margin of this section except 
during occasional freshets. In a dug well, 26 feet deep, in the 
NW. I sec. 18, T. 14 N., R. 61 W., the water stood 23 feet below the 
surface, or about 13 feet below the dry channel. In a dug well near 
the northeast corner of sec. 30, T. 14 N., R. 61 W., only slightly above 
the valley floor, the water stood 25 feet below the surface. In a 
drilled well in the SW. I sec. 10, in the same township, the water 
stood 46 feet below the surface. In a drilled well in the NE. I sec. 21 
the water stood 55 feet below the surface, or about 30 feet below the 
level of the dry channel due south. In a well near the east margin 
of sec. 26 the water appeared to be about 30 feet below the dry 
channel. Down the valley from Tracy siding the ground water 
apparently comes nearer the surface; in a well in the NE. I sec. 32, 
T. 14 N., R. 60 W., in September, 1915, it was only 9.5 feet below 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 49 

the surface, and along the valley of Muddy Creek it appeared at the 
surface. 

The third dry reach began east of the east margin of sec. 29, T. 
15 N., R. 54 W. In a drilled well in the NW. I sec. 26, the water 
stood 35 feet below the surface, or about 23 feet below the dry chan- 
nel. In a well in the SW. i sec. 30, T. 15 N., R. 53 W., the water 
stood 17 feet below the surface, or only about 11 feet below the dry 
channel. In a well near the southwest corner of sec. 30, about 30 
feet above the dry channel, the depth to water was reported to be 
38 feet, and on still higher ground, about a mile farther south, the 
depth to water was reported to be about 100 feet. In a drilled well 
in the NW. I sec. 36, T. 15 N., R. 54 W., on the south side of the road 
about 2 feet below the level of the railroad, the depth to water was 
57 feet. In a well in the NW. I sec. 2, T. 14 N., R. 53 W., about 55 
feet above the dry channel due north, the depth to the water was 
reported to be about 100 feet, or 45 feet below the level of the dry 
channel. The water in a well near the middle of the east margin of 
sec. 2, on ground 15 or 20 feet lower, was reported to be 60 feet below 
the surface, and in a well a mile farther east 49 feet below the surface. 
In a well drilled in the NE. I sec. 1 the water stood 32 feet below the 
surface, or fully 20 feet below the level of the dry channel and 40 feet 
below the first terrace. A well in the NW. { sec. 6, T. 14 N., R. 52 
W., was dry at a level 18 feet below the stream channel. Just west 
of Potter, where the railroad crosses the creek, the water in an exca- 
vation made a few years ago was found to be 22 feet below the level 
of the dry channel. In the city well at Potter the water was 33.5 
feet below the surface, or about 12 feet below the level of the stream 
channel due south. In a well 30 feet deep in the stream channel due 
south of the Potter city well the depth to water was said to be 14 feet. 
A little more than a mile farther down the valley the groimd water 
comes to the surface. 

The sinking of the water table to considerable depths below the 
surface and the consequent drying up of the stream in several parts 
of the valley may be due to irregularities in the grade of either the 
valley or the water table. Irregularities in the grade of the water 
table could be produced by differences in the quantity of water con- 
tributed to the underground supply or in the porosity of the alluvium. 
The water table will be high where the inflow is great and also where 
the ground water is more or less impounded by relatively impervious 
alluvium. Difference in inflow is certainly one of the causes of 
variation in level, but the interrelations of the various factors can not 
be determined until an accurate profile of the stream channel is 
made. 

On account of the slope of the water table the ground water moves 
constantly but slowly downstream. The rate of movement depends 



50 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

on the porosity of the material and on the grade of the water table. 
According to underflow measurements that have been made by the 
United States Geological Survey, the average rate of movement in 
the general direction of the valley is 8 feet per 24 hours in the valley 
of Arkansas River near Garden City, Kans.,* 17 feet in the valley of 
the South Fork of Republican River near St. Francis, Kans.,^ and 
6.4 feet in the valley of the South Platte near Ogalalla, Nebr.^ The 
slope of the water table at the localities where the measurements were 
made amounted to 7.5 feet per mile in the Arkansas Valley and 10.7 
feet in the valley of the South Fork of the Republican. The alluvial 
gravels in Lodgepole Valley probably conduct water as freely as the 
similar gravels in the valleys where the underflow measurements 
were made and the grade of the water table is somewhat steeper 
(p. 48). Where the ground-water supply is replenished to such an 
extent that the underground reservoir overflows, the surplus water 
is carried away as a surface stream at a rate much more rapid than 
that of the underflow. 

SOURCE AND DISPOSAL. 

A rough balance between intake and discharge of ground water is 
maintained naturally in Lodgepole Valley from year to year. The 
underground supply in the valley is replenished by (1) downward 
percolation of water that faUs directly on the valley as rain or snow; 
(2) downward percolation of water that reaches the valley in per- 
manent streams or in freshets; (3) underflow from the alluvial de- 
posits of tributary valleys; and (4) percolation from the water- 
bearing members of the Ogalalla, Arikaree, and other formations 
that underlie the uplands adjacent to the valley. PracticaUy all 
this water is derived from the precipitation on the drainage basin of 
Lodgepole Creek. The underground supply is diminished by (1) 
evaporation where the water table is near the surface, (2) transpi- 
ration of plants, (3) seepage into the creek bed, and (4) underflow 
into the South Platte Valley. The water that seeps into the creek 
bed either returns to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpira- 
tion, flows into the South Platte, or percolates back into the under- 
ground reservoir. Considerable surface water that reaches the val- 
ley flows through to the South Platte because the underground res- 
ervoir of the valley is full or so nearly full that but little water can 
percolate into it. 

If ground water is pumped in large quantities, the water table will 
be somewhat lowered. As a result, there will be smaUer loss by 

1 Slichter,C. S., The underflowin Arkansas Valleyin western Kansas: U, S. Geol. Sur-vey Water-Supply 
Paper 153, p. 5, 1906. 

2 Wolff, H. C, The utilization of the underflow near St. Francis, Kans.: U. S. Geol. Survey Water- 
Supply Paper 258, p. 119, 1911. 

3Slichter,C. S.,and Wolff, H. C, The underflow of the South Platte Valley: U. S. Geol. Survey Water- 
Supply Paper 184, p. 11, 1906. 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY^ WYO. NEBR. 51 

evaporation, transpiration, and seepage into the creek, and greater 
replenishment from stream water that would otherwise reach the 
South Platte and from ground water on both sides of the valley. 
Thus a new balance will tend to become established between the 
intake and the withdrawal, including the withdrawal by pumping. 
If the pumpage in any section of the valley is increased beyond the 
limits of possible adjustment, there will, of course, be progressive 
depletion of the supply. The total quantity, of water utilized, and 
hence the total acreage of land irrigated, can be increased by pump- 
ing from wells, because pumping will eliminate a part of the natural 
waste that now occurs through evaporation, transpiration from plants 
of little or no value, and escape of surface water; but there is prob- 
ably no practicable way of effecting this increase in total recovery 
without reducing the flow of the creek. 

The total appropriations for irrigation from Lodgepole Creek 
amount to nearly 400 second-feet,^ but the natural flow of the creek 
at any point is only a fraction of the amount appropriated. If the 
water of the creek is diverted at some point, other water will seep 
into the channel below the point of diversion, and not far below there 
is likely to be a considerable stream. Obviously, the channel of the 
creek where it is not normally dry has somewhat the function of a 
well. It extends below the ground-water level, and hence when its 
water is removed the supply is replenished from the underground 
reservoir. Thus the underground reservoir is already utilized, water 
being artificially drawn from it in the irrigation season through the 
ditches that lead from the creek. Pumping from wells would, in a 
sense, be an extension of the same process and would result in a still 
more effective use of the underground reservoir. Pumping from wells 
extending to the subjacent formation — the second or lower water 
horizons — would interfere less with the stream flow than pumping 
from shallow wells. By bringing to the surface water that had been 
confined by an impervious bed pumping from the deeper wells might 
even raise the water table and add to the stream flow. 

In order to make even an approximate estimate of the quantity of 
water that could be recovered by pumping from wells, it would be 
necessary to have much more information than is at present avail- 
able in regard to the average annual discharge of Lodgepole Creek, 
the loss by evaporation and transpiration, and other factors that are 
involved. 

According to official records of the States of Wyoming and 
Nebraska, the area irrigated from Lodgepole Oeek and its tributaries 
amounted in 1912 to about 23,500 acres. ^ A large part of the water 

1 Price, D. D., Nebraska State Board of Irrigation, Highways, and Drainage Tenth Bienn. Kept., p. 49, 
1914. Jabelmann, Louise, Tabulation of adjusted rights in water division No. 1, pp. 121-123, Wyoming 
State Board of Control, 1912. 

■^ Price, D. D., op. cit., p. 117 Jabelmann, Louise, op. cit., pp. 121-123. 

91729°— 17 3 



52 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

applied in irrigation percolates back to the underground reservoir. 
If it is assumed that the net annual withdrawal of water for irrigation 
is 2 acre-feet per acre, and that 23,500 acres are irrigated, the total 
net withdrawal is 47,000 acre-feet a year, or less than 3 per cent of 
the precipitation on the drainage basin of Lodgepole Creek. If the 
deposits underlying Lodgepole Valley are assumed to have an avail- 
able porosity of 20 per cent, this amount of water is stored in H feet 
of depth of the underground reservoir. If, on these assumptions, the 
irrigated area were increased 20 per cent by ]:)umping from wells, 
the average lowering of the water table caused by pumping during 
an irrigation season would not exceed 0.3 foot, and there would prob- 
ably be almost complete recovery through recharge during the rest 
of the year. If the irrigated 'area were doubled the lowering during 
an irrigation season would be within 1^ feet, but it would probably be 
enough to interfere seriously with the stream flow. Moreover, there 
would probably not be complete recovery by recharge in unfavor- 
able seasons and thus the lowering might progress from year to year. 
Of course, the more widely distributed are the areas irrigated with 
well water the greater will be the salvage and the less will be the 
average effect on the water table and on the stream flow. 

QUALITY. 

The table on pages 54-55 gives two analyses of water from 
Lodgepole Ci'eek and 20 analyses of waters from wells in or near 
Lodgepole Valley. Twelve of these analyses were made under con- 
tract for the United States Geological Survey by S. C. Dinsmore in 
connection with the present investigation, nine were made by the 
Union Pacific Railroad Co. under the direction of N. F. Harriman, 
chief chemist, and one was made by the Kenhicott Water Softener Co. 
Three of the analyses (Nos. 13, 14, and 22) are of water from shallow 
wells that end in the alluvial gravel; seven (Nos. 8, 9, 11, 12, 17, 18, 
and 21) of water from the Brule clay, underlying the alluvium, with 
more or less admixture of water from the alluvium; two (Nos. 15 
and 16) apparently from the Ogalalla formation underlying the 
alluvium; one (No. 4) from the upland gravel deposits above the 
sandstone of the Arikaree formation; two (Nos. 7 and 10) from the 
sandstone of the Arikaree formation; and one (No. 2) probably 
from the Fox Hills formation. 

The water of the streams that flow from tlie granitic area of the 
mountain province (No. 1) is low in total soUds and is of the calcium 
carbonate type. In passing over the outcropping sedimentary rocte 
the mineral content of the stream water appears, however, to be 
more than doubled in the course of a few miles, a large part of the 
addition evidently being from the gypsum beds of the Chugwater 
formation that outcrop at the edge of the mountains (see analysis 
No. 3). 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY^ WYO.-NEBB. 53 

None of the ground waters that were analyzed differ to any great 
extent from the sample of stream water; and in view of their rather 
mde geographic distribution andxthe diversity of their geologic 
sources they are remarkably similar to each other in total dissolved 
solids and in the pro])ortions of the various constituents. None of 
them are highly mineralized, but all contain a moderate amount of 
dissolved mineral matter, the principal constituents being calcium and 
the bicarbonate radicle. They range in total solids from 212 to 501 
parts per million, in calcium from 34 to 75 parts, in magnesium from 
9.4 to 18 parts, in sodium and potassium from 1.9 to 65 parts, in 
bicarbonate from 130 to 371 parts, in sulphate from 12 to 70 parts, 
and in chloride from 2.6 to 20 parts. 

The water from the Brule clay contains on an average somewhat 
more mineral matter than the rest. The largest content of total 
solids was found in sample No. 21, which was taken from the Brule 
clay at a depth of 90 feet, the water from higher horizons being shut 
out. Some of the upland wells that end in the Brule clay are said to 
yield poor water, but no analyses are available to substantiate this 
report. The analyses given in the table also seem to indicate a slight 
general increase in mineralization in the downstream direction. 

So far as is shown by the analyses, the waters of this region are all 
satisfactory for irrigation, the content of sodium in none of them 
being high. They are also in general good for domestic uses except 
that their rather high content of calcium and magnesium renders 
them moderately hard. They deposit considerable soft scale in 
steam boilers but are used without serious trouble in the locomotives 
on the Union Pacific and other railroads and for steam making 
wherever required. At some points along the railroad, however, 
the water is treated at softening plants before it is used in locomotives. 



54 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDKOLOGV OF UNITED STATES^ 1017. 









































6 

CI 
























































« tf 


tf 


« 


K °« 


« 




>. 


• 






« oK 


« (^6 


« «3 


pi «tf 


«pi 




■=3 


;^ 








i 1 1 


.11 


1 £| 


IS 






2 








.s . .^ ..s 


Ph .oP^ 


1^ 






s 


a 


S 


§p^^ 


« ^ ;^§«" 




§^-3g 


• 






d 






a ^c 


-s 


•30 


•a gc 


^•fl 






w 






ti ait 


od ai- 


t^O! 


^ ^t 


7}t:j 




-2'^ 


;o 




lO IC 


^ 


.0- 


10 1 10 CO -H >o 


io ^in 


^(Nco 


>oo 
























a5 








05 


cn o- 


S ' SooJS 


OCJ 








|g 






















<S 




t>r u- 






0" ; co~'o'~'o"<m"" 


CO "P'O 




oot-^ 




|S 








C5 ^-4(>5 


(M ^ ^rtCMM 


N (N 








_^ 


t: 


+i -tJ 


■ '^ *^ 


^ Xt ^^J, .+i 


^ .« 


^T? . , 


• • 




l| 


Q. 




& P- C 


ac 


Q, : D-D,::: ft 


'D- da 


0- : S C 






^ 




rg ^ 


^ 


^^>2 


^ : ^'^^.g 




^ :p| 






^ I- 


• 

















c 


CO 




CO 




: ;'= 




J-, 




l^^l 


■~. 
















OC 


cr> -^ (N 




-5^ 




• [^ 




CM 




P '^-2 










u^ 








0. 


<>) -r -ht-h 




CO ^<N 












**• 








<N 










'^ 


























1 










D 


ci ! 




G 




^ 




.-. 


























>. 








>. 




> . 














































« 






















t- • 


































W) ; ; 


bC . 
























Ti 






•0 








1 

1 


1 






e^ 




•I 








g 3 


:; : 




3 ^ 


"3 


'5 ; : 




.2 






1 




<1 






1 


s § § 
"^ — 5 

3 « > .-rt 








.3 • : 
^ : : 


d : 
^ : 


J 


1 






1 








L|6|i tjii 
i:J3|i !J3j 
Hull 1^1^ 


fill 


S : : 

m 


II 

'3 J 
ll 


§ 








[2 











<fc 


^. <1 pq :^ : 


o< 


« : : 


PQ-1I 


i 


a'^d 


.s 










00 








OtOO(N 


(O 00 


00 j 







1 
















vC 






rH^iqiC 


2 t312 


(NCO '. 






P o "^ 


fe, 










^ 
















'^ 


.2 


















-H 






















05 >?M^ 




















tc 


-3 ro ^ 


IM r^ J>!MrOCO 


t^ COM 


CO^ ;ir 




S 


ats 


f^ 




2 




CN 




""" 










Q o 






2 
















,i»i 






"~t^ 




















: : i"^ 


-• : * 






























; ; ■ c 






« 






is 













I p ! .' 








. . ! ct 


js ® : 


'—' 


o 






eg 

c 




-? 


d c 






d ? d < c 


V 


d > 6 


d d d 


s|i 




Is 


1 


^"^ ^ 


TJTC 


"C 


1 -^ 1 -^^-^ 


$ 


• 3 ■ 


TSyy_l 






^ 


1 


^ 


"1 P 








; ^ P 


p 


: ^ : 


: : ".p 


p : 




1 


M 




i rS 


1° 




c 
> 




^ « b <B 5r 


li 

la 




' c 


,0 
D. 






ca^-"-!-^ 


-; c 




.Sl-S S J 


'Ii4i'i'':|l 


^S-oiJ 3 J3 


-^ J-^-^^ 


" -^^ 1 






(»e^ c3 


o o 


ro :3 d 13 ta 




So® ©"^CC! 


® ;d • • £ 




g 






^ 


^ 


I2; CQ 


KPPQpi^ 


^""^'■"(5: jraM" 


A. PhS 


M j Jl^ 








<« 




^ 






















s 


°^ 


1 


C3 

m4 ? 






i -^ : '• 




^J 


pi 


:m" 




tf 




a 


^2 


^ 


IflS 


« :|p5 




^ 1« ig 




^1 


pi 


.;pi 




pi 




a 


'-O 


2 cs g 






^0 :& 




p 


yr-(CM ^ 








O <jj 


«y 


t- E 


t§ ;^c 


t) ,i«) OJtd • OT 




« M 




o2 






5S 


o 




lip 


1 1 fl « 

s 1 fg.'l 


c 


0^ 




1! 

• 2 




O 


o_5 


J 


■^w^ 


S g 2a 


« 




'S^ 


s a 


^■3 






12; 


2 


3 ^ 


\D :wt 


^ < ^0 


^ 




t)^ 


tJ t3 


h;u 




^ 


^ 


~~cs 


CC TT 


io<»t>.a 


a> ,-H(MfO'9' 


~~i^ tot^ 


CO t35C 


JHCS 




^ 
























r-l^^ 


'^ 


■" 


^ 


■"• 




rH CS 




^ 1 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 



55 



•1U8I0IU9O0 IIBIIIV 



•noTsoj 
-ioojOiC^fiTq^qoJj 






•s^uajpaaa 
-m Suniijoj-aiBos 






•spiios 



•(«0N) 



•(10) appoiqo 



•(»os) 

aiDipBJ amending 



c,p^ '. ifePi :f4fi,f3HPH '.'.','. !ps<Ph ; ! ; 



o o o o.fc; o 5 o.t; o.i3 o o.i: o o © o.ir o o o 

o : : :p^ :o :E«HOfe :opqC5 : : ipm : : : 



?SSSSS5252S 






^^§2?5g2§"'ggSS8^i?i?gg8g2 



OOOOOOOOQOOOOQOOQOOOOO 






00000(N O 00(N.-iO .oS 

c5e4 'o6 * ■ 00 * o lo -^ o 'uitog^oo " 



OiOOO U5 OO • O O 0»0e<5 

COt^»OOCcOM<©C^«'«j!iC'-trt<ONt>iO»OOOONiC^ 



•-ICONC«5'-li-ICOO»'-ICClC»e^C»5i-HCOi-ICOt>-M50'^ 



•(^OOH) ap 
-rpBJ aiBuoqaeoig 



•(^00) 
epipBJ a^BuoqjBo 



-od pire ranrpos 



•(§H) ranisan2Bj^ 



•(BO) mnpiBo 



ranmuinie pire 
aojT JO sapixQ 



•(8^) UOJI 



•(^OTS) ^oms 



Q«5Q(5-<j<t^ceM^-^«oi^(Mooa>ocO'-<Xccoi^o 

«c5rt.-irtrHT^,-,CS!N(N(N(N<N.-i,-i(N(NiN^coco 



C"** lOiO CO OS TJ" 



«O(MO.-l(N05C0O^(N5O-<j<(N«0C0<N«v5-<»<r^e^00Cv 






^^fHEH . :^ Jehehe-i : Jeheh [^ \ [ \^ 



riOOioosCJt^r^'-Hco.-ic^cocoiocoCTi-^?© 



-HC<lcO-^iO«Ot^00050-H(NCCi-»t<iflCOt^00050'^<N 



fet-s §5 8 
(^" OO 5-5 ® 






a 

d 



go- 



go +^ S 






^ _ MO I- S =3.2 



=-S§>>"52 



!»£ 



«.s.Kili|s. 



rnXi the o'^ ^"^ B 
o^-SaS^-gg II 

B^'^o S" -^ ^^ ( 

o Oo S3.2 



^^+i 



56 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

DATA CONCERNING WELLS. 
LARAMIE COUNTY, WYO. 

The few wells in the valley above Egbert are used only for domestic 
supply and for watering stock and their capacity has not been thor- 
oughly tested. Some of the wells between Egbert and Pole Creek 
ranch are drilled and most of them end in sand of the Arikaree for- 
mation. The alluvial gravels would no doubt yield large supplies 
in much of this part of the valley, but they are not widely distributed 
and are generally not deep. The drilled wells in the vicinity of 
Islay are described on pages 63, 64. 

The railroad weU at Egbert is 35 or 40 feet deep, 16 feet in diameter, 
and is walled with stone laid in cement. It was sunk through dry 
gravel into ^^hardpan" which contains water-bearing crevices. 
The men in charge report that the well contains 7 feet of water, 
and that pumping at the rate of 150 gallons a minute lowers the 
water level very little. 

The well that supplies the Pinebluff waterworks is 76 feet deep; 
the upper 16 feet is a dug pit, the rest a drilled hole with 12-inch 
perforated casing. The water level is about 16 feet below the surface. 
When the well was sunk there was, according to Mr. M. Ekstrom, the 
driller, only 4 inches of water-bearing gravel, below which the well 
penetrated Brule clay, the crevices of which furnish nearly all of the 
water. The pump is set 15 feet below the water level, and pumping 
220 gallons a minute is reported by Mr. Ekstrom to cause a drawdown 
of 2.5 feet, indicating a yield of 90 gallons a minute for each foot of 
drawdown. 

The railroad weU at Pinebluff is about 25 feet deep and 14^ feet in 
diameter and, like the Egbert well, is waUed with stone laid in cement. 
It was sunk through 8 feet of silty loam and a few feet of dry gravel, 
and ended in vesicular Brule clay, in which a satisfactory supply was 
obtained. The water level is about 12 feet below the surface, and, 
according to authentic information, is lowered 3 or 4 inches when the 
well is pumped at 150 gallons a minute and about 6 inches when it is 
pumped at 225 gallons a minute, indicating a capacity of about 450 
gallons a minute for 1 foot of drawdown. When the well was being 
sunk it is reported to have been pumped simultaneously by a 5-inch 
and a 4-inch centrifugal pump. 

The well of Mr. Ekstrom, in the SW. I sec. 10, T. 14 N., R. 60 W., 
about 250 feet from the creek, is 13 feet deep, 20 feet in diameter, 
and is walled with concrete. It extends through gravel to the 
''hardpan." The water level is only 3 feet below the surface and the 
water is derived from the gravel. The well failed to supply a 5-inch 
centrifugal pump which has a capacity of 735 gallons a minute but 
is supposed to yield about half this amount, or approximately 35 
gallons for each foot of drawdown. 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 57 

A well dug by Mr. Ekstrom, 8 miles southwest of Pinebluff, only 
about 30 feet from the banks of Muddy Creek, to a depth of 20 feet, 
ends in ''hardpan" but fails to supply a 4-inch centrifugal pump. 
Some of the wells between Pinebluff and Egbert yield supphes 
inadequate for domestic use or for stock. 

KIMBALL COUNTY. NEBR. 

The railroad well at Bushnell is 37 feet deep and 15 feet in diame- 
ter and is walled with stone laid in cement. It extends through 
gravel to the '^hardpan." Pumping at the rate of 170 gallons a 
minute empties the well. 

The railroad well at Kimball, which is on the second terrace, 60 
feet above the level of the creek, is 93 feet deep and its water level is 
about 60 feet below the surface. A 16-foot hole was sunk to a depth 
of about 85 feet and was walled with stone laid in cement. This 
hole extended through dry gravel to a depth of 30 or 40 feet and 
thence through "hardpan" to the bottom, where a thin layer of 
water-bearing sand and gravel was found. The yield was unsatis- 
factory, and a hole was drilled in the bottom of this well to another 
water-bearing bed, which is said to consist of gravel. This increased 
the supply so much that pumping at the rate of 170 gallons a minute 
is reported not to lower the water level greatly, but pumping at 285 
gallons a minute is reported to empty the well. The information 
regarding both the Bushnell and the Kimball railroad wells was 
furnished chiefly by Mr. J. R. McCart, in charge of the Union Pacific 
water supply between Durham, Wyo., and Julesburg, Colo. 

The well that supplies the waterworks at Kimball is in the valley 
about one-fourth mile from the creek and about 15 feet above the 
creek level. It consists of a 5-foot hole that extends to a depth of 
15 feet, where water was encountered, and a 2-foot hole with perfo- 
rated casing that extends down about 16 feet from the bottom of the 
5-foot hole. The entire weU is in gravel. According to T. C. Thiele, 
who has charge of the pumping plant, the usual pumpage, as indi- 
cated by a meter, is 230 gallons a minute, and pumping at about 
this rate for 8 hours has produced a drawdown of only 1| feet, indi- 
cating a capacity of about 150 gallons a minute for each foot of 
drawdown. 

The well of Mr. Gus. Forsling is in the NE. I sec. 34, T. 15 N., 
R. 57 W., near the upper end of the Kimball reservoir. A 6-foot 
hole, waUed with cement, goes to a depth of 18 or 20 feet, and a 
14-inch suction pipe with a screen 4 or 5 feet long extends below the 
bottom of the 6-foot hole to about 31 feet below the surface. The 
entire well is in gravel. When tested on September 21, 1915, the 
water level was 15.45 feet below the bench mark, or about 15 feet 
below the surface, and pumping for one hour at an average rate of 



58 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

445 gallons a minute, according to two measurements made with a 
current meter, lowered the water level to 18.05 feet below the bench 
mark, or a distance of 2.60 feet. This test therefore indicated that 
the well has a capacity of about 170 gallons a minute for each foot of 
drawdown. Mr. Forsling reported that in a 12-hour run the water 
level was lowered about 4 feet. Data in regard to the pumping 
plant are given on pages 65-67. 

Wells sunk by Anton Linder and J. F. Bogle for irrigation of land 
not far east of Bushnell are supposed to yield satisfactory supplies 
but had not been severely tested at the time the valley was examined. 

CHEYENNE COUNTY, NEBR. 

The well that supplies the waterworks at Potter is 72 feet deep 
and is lined with 12-inch casing to a depth of 48 feet and 6-inch casing 
to the bottom, the casing being perforated with numerous holes one- 
fourth inch in diameter. The section, as reported, is as follows: 
Water at 35 feet; water-bearing sand and gravel to 48 feet; ''rock" 
to 50 feet; soft white clay to 63 feet; water-bearing sand and gravel 
to 72 feet, well ending in gravel. The depth to the water level Sep- 
tember 23, 1915, was 34.65 feet below the platform, or 33.5 feet below 
the surface. The pumpage averages about 10,000 gallons a day. 
Accordmg to A. D. Irey, who is in charge of both village and railroad 
pumping plants, the well was tested at 120 gallons a minute, and 
this rate of pumping lowered the water level 3 feet, indicating a 
capacity of 40 gallons a minute for each foot of drawdown. 

The railroad well at Potter is 37 feet deep, 15 feet in diameter, and 
is walled with stone laid in cement. It is reported to extend through 
gravel, ''hardpan," and ''rock." The water level is only a few feet 
above the bottom of the well. According to Mr. Irey, the well is 
pumped at about 125 gallons a minute, and this rate of pumping for 
6 hours emptied the weU in the faU of 1914 but not in the summer 
of 1915. 

The weU that supplies the waterworks at Sidney yields more than 
any other weU that was examined. It is about 37 feet deep, 15 feet 
in diameter, and is walled with stone. It extends through gravel to 
a depth of about 28 feet, below which it is in "hardpan." At the 
time the weU was dug the lowest 1^ feet of gravel was saturated 
with water; on September 5, 1915, the water level was 26 feet below 
the surface. This weU suppUes about 28,000,000 gallons a year, or 
an average ot about 80,000 gallons a day. In a test made September 
5, 1915, it was pumped for one hour at 710 gallons a minute, as 
measured by the installed meter, and the water level was lowered 
only 0.31 foot. Pumping for three hours at about 650 gallons a 
minute is reported to produce a drawdown of about 8 inches. It is 
also reported that before any "hardpan" had been excavated the 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBB. 59 

well was pumped at 1,100 gallons a minute without emptying it, all 
of the water presumably coming from the 18-inch layer of saturated 
gravel. 

The Union Pacific Railroad Co. has two wells in Sidney that are 
somewhat similar to the city weQ. The new well is 40 feet deep, 16 
feet in diameter, walled with stone laid in cement. It was sunk 
through dry gravel to the depth of 24 feet and through ''hardpan" 
from this depth to the bottom, the first water being struck in crevices 
in the "hardpan" at a depth of about 30 feet. Mr. J. R. McCart 
reports that while the well was being sunk it was pumped 550 gallons 
a minute without exhausting the supply and that the well is usually 
pumped at about 350 gallons a minute. The old well is not so deep 
as the new one and yields less water. 

Other wells in Sidney that yield considerable water are the Chicago, 
Burhngton & Quincy Railroad well, the schoolhouse well, and the 
well at the J. A. Reisdortf ice factory. The railroad well is a large 
dug hole reported to have only about 4 feet of water but to yield 
freely. The schoolhouse well has 7-inch casing and is said to be 
about 45 feet deep. It was pumped on September 3, 1915, at 35 
gallons a minute, at which rate it is frequently pumped for 10 or 12 
hours. The ice-factory weU is a dug hole about 50 feet deep and is 
said to be a strong well, although it is pumped at a rate of only 10 or 12 
gallons a minute. 

The well that supplies the waterworks at Lodgepole is 100 feet 
deep, the upper 17 feet being a dug hole and the rest a drilled hole 
14 inches in diameter. The fu^t water was struck in gravel at the 
depth of 17 feet, and ''hardpan" was reached at 17 J feet. Most of 
the supply is reported to have been found between the depths of 
50 and 75 feet. The well is usually pumped at about 110 gallons a 
minute. This rate of pumping is reported to produce a drawdown, 
in some seasons of 5 or 6 feet, but at the time the well was examined, 
September 9, 1915, the drawdown was only about 1 foot. 

The railroad well at Lodgepole is 56 feet deep. It consists of a 
dug hole about 30 feet deep and three 3-inch drilled holes extending 
26 feet downward from the bottom of the dug hole. As reported by 
Mr. J. J. Finnegan, who is in charge of the railroad water supply at 
this place and at ChappeU, the well passed through water-bearing 
gravel between the depths of 7 and 11 feet and through hard clay 
from 11 feet to the bottom. The water level is about 8 feet below 
the surface. Pumping at the rate of 115 gallons a minute is re- 
ported by Mr. Finnegan to lower the water level about 2 feet in 
the first hour of pumping, after which there is no noticeable lowering 
even though the pump is run aU day. In tests made September 9 
and 10, 1915, the drawdown was 1.35 feet after 20 minutes of pump- 
ing and 2.1 feet after 1 hour and 15 minutes, 2 hours, and 3 hours of 



60 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

pumping. These tests therefore indicated a capacity of about 55 
gallons a minute for each foot of drawdown. 

A few wells have been sunk in Cheyenne County to obtain water 
for irrigation, but none of them were being pumped in September, 
1915. The dug well of Mr. Nels Olson, 2 miles west of Sidney, is 
16 feet deep, and in September, 1915, the water level was 9.8 feet 
below the surface. This well is equipped with a pump rated at 
750 gallons a minute, but no test of the yield was made. A shallow 
well, 8 feet in diameter, dug near the creek, on the Benjamin Glenn 
estate, in the SW. \ sec. 33, T. 14 N., R. 49 W., was formerly pro- 
vided with a rather large pumping plant to be used for irrigation, 
but it is now abandoned. The Campbell wells, on land now belonging 
to Mr. George Graves, in the NE. J sec. 35, T. 14 N., R. 47 W., 
were sunk to obtain a supply for irrigation but were not in use in 

1915. There are five wells at intervals of 25 feet and a little less than 
50 feet from the creek. As reported by Mr. J. C. Johnson, the driller, 
they were at first carried to depths of only 16 to 18 feet and were 
finished in gravel with 12-inch perforated casings. The depth to 
water level was about 7 feet. They yielded considerable water but 
did not adequately supply the 6-inch centrifugal pump with which 
they were simultaneously pumped. Two of the wells were then 
extended as 8-inch uncased holes, through the ''hardpan" to a 
total depth of 80 feet. Additional water struck in the ''hardpan" 
rose to a level 2 or 3 feet above the original water level. These 
two wells, according to Mr. Johnson, supplied the pump. The 
discharge of the pumping plant is reported to have been 1,380 
gallons a minute, but this report was not verified. 

DEUEL COUNTY, NEBR. 

The well that supplies the waterworks at Chappell is 4 feet in 
diameter and 34 feet deep and extends through gravel to the top of 
the clay. The water level is about 28 feet below the surface. Accord- 
ing to Mr. R. H. Libby, who is in charge of the plant, the well is usually 
pumped at a rate of about 85 gallons a minute but has been tested 
at 200 gallons a minute. It supplies 5,000 to 30,000 gallons a day. 

The railroad well at Chappell is 16 feet in diameter and 32 feet 
deep, and ends in gravel. The water level is reported to be about 
22 feet below the surface. When measured by Mr. Finnegan, in 

1916, pumping at the rate of 200 gallons a minute for several hours 
lowered the water level only 1^ feet. 

The principal attempt in this part of the valley to recover ground 
water for irrigation was made by Mr. Skip McNew, who sank five 
14-inch wells near the creek on sec. 12, T. 12 N., R. 45 W., and 
installed a 6-inch centrifugal pump. In 1915 the plant had been 
abandoned, but from such meager information as could be obtained 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY^ WYO.-NEBR. 61 

it appears that the wells supplied the pump, which probably had 
a capacity of about 900 gallons a minute. 

Near the Colorado State line Lodgepole Valley opens into the 
valley of the South Platte, which is wider, has a somewhat deeper 
deposit of alluvial gravel, and no doubt has a larger supply of ground 
water. At Julesburg, Colo., just below the mouth of Lodgepole 
Valley, both city and railroad supplies are derived from the alluvial 
gravel, which is here about 40 feet thick. 

The Julesburg waterworks are supplied by two wells, 14 feet 
apart, both of which, according to Mr. C. H. Lent, superintendent 
of the city waterworks, are 40 feet deep and have 14-inch sheet-iron 
casings with perforations 1^ inches long and one-fourth inch wide. 
The water level is about 12 feet below the surface. It is reported 
that either of these wells will supply 750 gallons a minute with the 
suction pipe extending 15 feet below the water level. In a brief 
test made September 8, 1915, the two wells together supplied 750 
gallons a minute, or somewhat more, with an average drawdown of 
3.33 feet, indicating a capacity for each well, when both are being 
pumped, of about 110 gallons a minute for each foot of drawdown. 

The railroad supply at Julesburg is obtained from a well 16 feet 
deep and 12 feet in diameter, ending in gravel. The water level is 
5 feet below the surface. In September, 1915, the well suppli d 
300 gallons a minute, but in dry seasons it has been emptied by 
pumping 200 gallons a minute. This information was furnished by 
Mr. McCart. 

WATER IN TERTIARY FORMATIONS. 

The Tertiary formations, named in their order from the top 
downward, are the OgalaUa formation, the Arikaree formation, the 
Brule clay, and the Chadron sandstone. They are described on pages 
39-42, and their water-bearing capacity where they lie below the 
alluvium is discussed on page 47. 

The OgalaUa formation, which underlies large parts of the Great 
Plains, generally yields abundant supplies of good water from the 
irregular gravelly beds which it contains. This formation supplies 
most of the wells in the region adjacent to Lodgepole Valley east 
of Pinebluff , but in some places the base of the formation is so high 
above the valley that the water drains out of it and weUs must be 
simk into the underlying Brule clay. 

The Arikaree formation consists largely of sandstone, the lower 
part of which is saturated with water that it yields rather freely to 
weUs. Most of the drilled weUs ending in this formation are cased to 
prevent caving, but some of the dug wells are left uncased. The sand 
causes some trouble by running into wells that are finished with 



62 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

open ends or with large perforations in the casings and by clogging 
screens of finer mesh. So far as possible screens of fine mesh should be 
avoided, and the difficulty with sand should be overcome by thorough 
cleaning out and hard pumping at the time the wells are finished. 
If necessary gravel should be inserted to hold back the sand. As 
shown by analyses 7 and 10 (pp. 54-55) the water from the Arikaree 
formation contains only a moderate amount of mineral matter, 
which consists chiefly of silica, calcium, and bicarbonate, the two 
last named rendering it somewhat hard. It is of good quality for 
irrigation. The sandstone of this formation is reached by wells on 
the upland and in the valley from the vicinity of the Pole Creek 
ranch to a point a little beyond Egbert. No traces of the formation 
were found farther east in or near Lodgepole Valley. 

The weUs on the uplands for some miles east of the Islay escarp- 
ment are supplied by water from gravelly beds that overlie the 
typical sandstone of the Arikaree formation. The water level here 
is rather deep, but the supplies are abundant and the water is good. 
A sample of the water was taken from the drilled well of Mr. W. H. 
Thompson in the S. J sec. 19, T. 16 N., R. 68 W. (No. 4 in table on 
p. 54). This well is on the upland, 250 feet above the valley, in 
the region where the gravelly deposits extend down to the val- 
ley. The weU is 260 feet deep and the depth to water level is said 
to be 251 feet. The owner reported that it passes through ''clay 
and gravel" and ends in water-bearing ''sand and gravel." The 
lowest 20 feet of casing is perforated to admit the water. The well 
yields freely and the water is good. East of the vicinity of the Pole 
Creek ranch the base of the gravelly deposits is generally above the 
water level and the wells penetrate the underlying sandstone. 

The Brule clay is in general too dense to be a good water bearer 
and some weUs driUed into it have been failures. In most places, 
however, it yields supplies that are adequate for domestic uses 
and for watering stock, and in parts of the valley it yields very freely. 
The water generally comes from the joints into which the formation 
readily breaks, but a few wells end in sand that appears to be inter- 
bedded with the clay. Most of the weUs between Egbert and Pine- 
. bluff end in Brule clay and some of them are unsatisfactory. Many 
of the upland weUs near Sidney and in other localities east of Pine- 
bluff have also been drilled into the Brule clay and most of these 
yield some water. Although this formation yields water freely at 
many places in the valley, it becomes tighter near the margins of 
the valley, where wells have been drilled into it a few hundred feet 
without finding much water. The water from the Brule clay ap- 
parently contains somewhat more mineral matter than that from the 
overlying formations. It would deposit large amounts of scale in 



GROUND WATEE IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 63 

boilers but, so far as the analyses show, it is not generally too highly 
mineralized for domestic use or for irrigation. (See especially analysis 
No. 21, pp. 54-55.) 

So few wells have been sunk to the base of the Brule clay that there 
is little information regarding the Chadron sandstone, which, near 
the mountains, crops out below this clay. In the few deep wells that 
have been drilled either this sandstone was absent or it did not sup- 
ply much water. The flowing well at the city pumping plant in 
Julesburg, Colo., passed through ''yellow shale" between the depths of 
40 and 200 feet, and ''blue shale" between the depths of 200 and 400 
feet, where the drilling was stopped. A 4-inch bed of sand between 
the two shale beds yielded a natural flow amounting to a fraction 
of 1 gallon a minute. If the "yellow shale" is the Brule clay, this 
thin bed of sand is at the horizon of the Chadron sandstone. Some 
of the other wells that reached sand after passing through the Brule 
clay may end in Chadron sandstone. 

WATER IN CRETACEOUS AND OLDER FORMATIONS. 

The formations in the general section shown on page 39 doubtless 
extend eastward beneath Lodgepole Valley, probably with some 
changes in character and thickness. The two notable facts regarding 
this section are that the Dakota sandstone, which in the vicinity of 
the Laramie Mountains is included in the Cloverly formation, is a 
widespread and very important artesian horizon and that the Pierre 
shale is a very thick and impervious formation which will produce 
little water and that of poor quality. Throughout most of its great 
thickness the Pierre shale consists of a dark plastic homogeneous shale. 
Above it and below the Tertiary system in this region there are alter- 
nating sandy and shaly beds (Fox Hills and other formations) which 
will yield some water, but which, so far as is now known, are not 
strong water bearers. Below the Pierre shale — between this shale 
and the Dakota sandstone — lie the Niobrara limestone and the 
Benton shale, which also contain water-bearing members. Below 
the Dakota sandstone there are still other water-bearing formations, 
but they lie too far below the surface in this region to be considered 
as sources of water supply. 

There are two flowing wells at Islay station and a 6-inch drilled 
well on slightly lower ground in sec, 27, in the same township, in 
which the water level in September, 1915, stood 3 feet below the sur- 
face, or 5.4 feet below the top of the casing. Definite information 
regarding the depths and sections of these wells could not be obtained, 
but according to N. H. Darton^ they are from 150 to 300 feet deep 

1 Dartpn, N. H., Blackwelder, Eliot, and Siebenthal, C. E,, U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Laramie- 
Sherman folio (No. 173), p. 17, 1910. 



64 CONTEIBUTIONS TO HYDEOLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

and apparently derive their water from the Fox Hills sandstone. 
On September 16, 1915, the south well at Islay flowed about 2 gallons 
a minute and the north well about 10 gallons a minute. The water 
is of good quality, as is shown by analysis No. 2 (pp. 54-55). A well 
at Cheyenne, which is reported to have been 1,145 feet deep, passed 
through much sand and obtained a small flow but was not considered 
successful.^ A well on the farm of Mr. Frank Hand, about 6 miles 
south of Sidney, is said to have been sunk to a depth of about 1,000 
feet and to have obtained only a small yield. If the well reached 
this depth it probably entered the Pierre shale. At Sterling, Colo., 
in the valley of the South Platte, a well is reported to have been sunk 
to a depth of 600 feet, chiefly through blue shale. Artesian water 
that flowed 2 or 3 gallons a minute is reported to have been struck in 
a thin bed of sand at a depth of about 400 feet. 

Too few wells have been sunk in this region to test adequately the 
water-bearing beds above the Pierre shale, and none of them were 
deep enough to reach the beds below the Pierre shale. There is some 
prospect of obtaining flowing wells by deep drilling in Lodgepole 
Valley from formations above or below the Pierre shale, but the 
prospect of obtaining adequate supplies at a cost low enough for 
irrigation by deep drilling must be regarded as poor. The formations 
above the Pierre shale could be tested by wells not more than 1,000 
feet deep, but unless the formations are much thinner toward the 
east than where they outcrop, wells several thousand feet deep 
would be required to reach the Dakota sandstone. 

IRRIGATION WITH GROUND WATER. 

The problem of irrigation with well water in Lodgepole Valley 
relates chiefly to the cost and to the quantity of water available. 
Several wells have been sunk in the valley to obtain water for irri- 
gation, but in 1915 only a few of these wells were used and some of 
them had been permanently abandoned. The supply has generally 
been large enough but the difficulty has been rather in the work and 
cost of pumping and applying the water. 

The cost of pumping varies within wide limits. Success or failure 
depends largely on the care and the ability with which the plant is 
installed and operated. With good management, pumping for the 
irrigation of staple crops should at present be economically prac- 
ticable in those parts of Lodgepole Valley where satisfactory wells 
can be obtained, where there is good soil to which to apply the water, 
and where the water table is within 25 feet of the surface. (See Pis. 

1 Darton, N. H., Preliminary report on the geology and underground-water resources of the central 
Great Plains; U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 33, p. 366, 1905. 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 425 PLATE V 




T.I3N. 



rmation, which gener 
iter bearing. In the 
surface. Continuou 
stance below surface, 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 65 

IV, V, and VI.) Under favorable conditions pumping can probably 
be made profitable even where the depth to the water table is some- 
what more than 25 feet. One of the chief causes of failure in a semi- 
arid region, such as Lodgepole Valley, is that in the years of sufficient 
precipitation the pumping plants are neglected and are consequently 
out of repair when they are again needed. 

The most practical type of pumping plant for Lodgepole Valley 
consists of one or more drilled wells, a centrifugal pump with a 
capacity of not less than about 1 second-foot and not more than 
several second-feet, and an internal-combustion engine adapted to 
the use of low-grade, inexpensive distillate, the water to be used in 
the vicinity of the pumping plant. 

Where the water is obtained from gravel the wells can be dug by 
hand, but in general adequate supplies can be obtained at less cost 
by digging only to the water level and below this level sinking wells 
8 to 14 inches in diameter and using casings that are abundantly 
perforated. In some localities it will be advisable to sink the wells 
into the ''hardpan." Where sufficient water is not obtained from 
one well, several wells can be sunk, 50 to 100 feet apart, and con- 
nected with the same pump. 

Where the water table is not more than 25 feet below the surface, 
horizontal centrifugal pumps are commonly used, these pumps 
being installed just above the water level and connected with the 
engine by a belt that makes an angle of not more than 45^ with the 
horizontal. Vertical centrifugal pumps are generally submerged. 
They are adapted to use in wells in which the water level lies rather 
deep or fluctuates greatly. 

A large central power plant with electric-transmission lines extend- 
ing to the individual pumping units, such as have been installed 
near Garden City, Kans., and at Portales, N. Mex., would probably 
have some advantage in economy and convenience over small engines 
installed at the pumps, but the installation of such a plant is not 
recommended at present for Lodgepole Valley, especially because 
pumping on a large scale would probably interfere with existing rights 
to the stream water. 

The following data in regard to the pumping plant of Mr. Gus. 
Forsling in the NE. I sec. 34, T. 15 N., R. 57 W. (see p. 57), were 
obtained in part from the owner and in part by a test made on Sep- 
tember 21, 1915. In its general features this plant is more or less 
typical of the pumping plants that are best adapted to the conditions 
in this valley. 



66 CONTEIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 

Data in regard to the pumping plant of Mr. Gus. Forsling, near Bushnell, Nehr. 

Well, 31 feet deep, 14-inch casing below cement-lined pump pit, ending in gravel. 
Pump, 5-inch vertical centrifugal. 
Power, 18-horsepower gasoline .engine. 
Cost of well, pump, and engine, $867. 
Estimated total cost of plant, $1,000. 
Normal water level, below surface, 15 feet. 
Normal water level, below discharge, 33 feet. 
Drawdown, about 4 feet. 
Total lift, about 37 feet. 

Rated capacity of pump, about 1.5 second-feet. 
Yield when tested, September 21, 1915, 1 second-foot. 
Gasoline used, 1§ gallons per hour. 
Cost of gasoline, 12 cents per gallon. 

Useful work accomphshed (lifting 1 second-foot of water 37 feet), 4.2 horsepower. 
Energy expended, counting 1 pint of gasohne per horsepower-hour, 13.3 horsepower. 
Efficiency, 31.6 per cent. 

Gasoline required to pump 1 acre-foot of water (1 second-foot during 12 hours), 20 
gallons. 

Cost of gasoline to pump 1 acre-foot, $2.40. 

In the preceding table the estimate of yield of water is based on a 
test of about 1 hour, made September 21, 1915, but the estimate of 
the consumption of gasoline is based on a run of 19 hours. If in the 
longer run the water table stood higher or the yield of the pump was 
more nearly its rated capacity the conclusions as to efficiency and cost 
per acre-foot may be somewhat vitiated. The price of gasoline has 
advanced since the test was made, but distillates costing less than 12 
cents could be used. Where fuel is consumed in relatively small 
quantities kerosene, which is cheaper than gasoline, is frequently 
used. There are, of course, many other expenses besides the cost of 
the fuel, such as lubricants, repairs and renewals, labor, and fixed 
charges, such as taxes and interest on investment. 

According to Mr. Forsling the plant will irrigate 1 acre in 2 hours, 
and one irrigation will serve to raise a crop of fully 1 ton of alfalfa. 
According to the above figures, such an irrigation would be only 2 
inches deep, and even if the pump worked at its rated capacity it would 
be only 3 inches deep. This involves a much higher duty of water than 
is usually attained, even in regions having as much rainfall as Lodge- 
pole Valley. On soil that is not too porous it should be possible on 
the average to raise a ton of alfalfa with one-half or two-thirds of an 
acre-foot of irrigation water, although frequently the amount used is 
greater.^ If the Forsling plant were operated 80 days during the 
irrigation season for an average of 12 hours a day it would yield 80 
acre-feet of water, which, with a duty of two-thirds acre-foot per ton 
of alfalfa, would produce 120 tons of this hay. 

1 Bark, D. H., Experiments on the economical use of irrigation water in Idaho: U. S. Dept. Agr 
Bull. 339, 1916. 



U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 




Base compiled from General Land ' 
U.S.Geoio^ical Survey, railroj 



MAP OF LODGEPOLE VALLEY IN C 

Area Indicated by shading Is underlair 
surface. Boundaries of valley are 
Creek water table is practically at 



U. 8. QEOLOGICAL SURVEr 












WATER-SUPPL 


PAPER 425 PLATE V, 


1 ' ' . 




T.,4M. 














3 








- " 


3 






Is 








l^ 


_CIM-ITIL 






MAP OF LODGEPOLE VALLEY 
Area indicated by shadi 

surface. Boundaries ot valley . 

Creek water table is practically 



»E)i R.\Sl^ \ B oromA BY 

COLOK.MJO LINE 

DEUEL COUNTY, NEBR., SHOWING GROUND-WATER CONDITIONS, 
iderlain by water-bearing alluvium and has water table within about 25 feet of 
indefinite but are outside of area indicated byshading. Along Lodgepole 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 67 

The data given above indicate a cost for fuel of $1.60 for each ton 
of alfalfa raised. Assuming that interest and taxes amount to 9 per 
cent and that renewals, repairs, and other expenses amount to 15 
per cent of the original investment of $1,000, these items would add 
$2 per ton, making a total cost of $3.60 per ton, exclusive of the cost 
of labor in pumping and, of course, exclusive of the cost of planting 
the fields, applying the water, and harvesting the crop. 

WeUs yielding enough water for practical irrigation can be obtained 
in most parts of Lodgepole Valley, and the total irrigated area could 
be considerably increased by pumping. However, the area now irri- 
gated is very large in comparison to the size of the stream, because 
ground water is supplied to the stream during the irrigation season. 
Extensive pumping of ground water would reduce the available sup- 
ply of stream water, although the decrease in stream water would be 
less than the increase in pumped well water. Pumping on a moder- 
ate scale will probably not appreciably reduce the supply of stream 
water and is doubtless practicable in Lodgepole Valley. 

Flowing wells could probably be obtained by deep drilling in some 
parts of the vaUey, but the prospects are not encouraging for obtain- 
ing supplies from deep wells in quantities or at costs practicable for 
irrigation. 

COST OF PUMPING FOR IRRIGATION IN WESTERN 
NEBRASKA. 

By H. C. DiESEM.i 

During the growing season of 1914 the rainfall was 2.49 inches 
below normal in the northwestern part of Nebraska, 1.40 inches below 
in the western part, and 1.60 inches below in the southwestern part, 
and the general average rainfall for the western half of the State was 
2.08 inches below the normal. 

During this and the preceding dry seasons considerable interest was 
manifested in pumping, and numerous pumping plants were installed 
and operated throughout the State. In 1915 the precipitation was 
above the average, and none of the pumping plants were operated, 
but in the season of 1916 a drouth existed during the month of July 
and many of the plants were again operated. 

The Division of Irrigation Investigations, Office of Public Roads 
and Rural Engineering, United States Department of Agriculture, 
obtained records of some of the pumping plants operated during the 
seasons of 1914 and 1916 but has not yet compiled the data for 1916. 

The records for 1914 have been arranged in the order of the cost 
of pumping an acre-foot per foot lift, which ranged from 4.35 cents 

1 Division of Irrigation Investigations, Office of Public Roads and Rural Engineering, U. S. Department 
of Agriculture. 

91729°— 17 1 



68 CONTRIBUTIONS TO HYDROLOGY OF UNITED STATES, 1917. 



to 13 cents. The operations during that season showed some very 
good runs, ranging from 81 to 600 hours for the season, at a total cost 
of operation, exclusive of labor, ranging from $36.19 to $185.76 for 
the season's pumping. The cost of pumping an acre-foot ranged from 
$1,502 to $3,636, but as the lift ranged from 28 to 45 feet a true com- 
parison must be based on the cost of pumping an acre-foot per foot 
lift. 

It is noteworthy that the maximum cost per acre-foot delivered 
was at a plant having one of the two lowest lifts. This fact can be 
due only to low efficiency of the plant. ' Though plant No. 1 deliv- 
ered water at only 4.35 cents per acre-foot per foot lift, plants Nos. 
2, 3, and 4, operated at a higher cost, furnished water on the land at 
a lower cost not only per acre irrigated but also per acre-inch applied. 
This difference is explained by the fact that the lift on No. 1 was 
greater and that the actual quantity of water applied to the land 
under plant No. 1 was but a trifle less than that from No. 2 and 
greater than that from Nos. 3 and 4. Plant No. 1 was also handi- 
capped by not having a well of sufficient capacity to supply the 
pump; and though the engine is supposedly self-governing, it was 
not operated to its full capacity but was speeded down, and the plant 
was run below its rated capacity to avoid drawing down the well and 
sucking air, and thus breaking the suction of the pump. 

Results of operating certain pumping plants in Nebraska in 191 A. 



Plant. 


Pumping. 


Cost. 


Area to 
which 
water was 
applied 
once. 


No. 


Engine. 


Pump.a 


Lift. 


Time. 


Quantity. 


Total for 
season. 


Per acre- 
foot. 


Per acre- 
foot per 
foot lift. 




Horsepower. 

15 
25 
15 
20 
22 
15 
30 
15 
20 
18 
15 


5 T 

6 H 
6 V 

5 V 

6 V 
6 H 

5 H 

6 V 
6 V 
5 H 

5 H 

6 H 


F(et. 
45 
34 
40 
28 
31 
43 
32 
44 
35 
33 
28 
28 


H. m. 

436 35 
487 00 
116 55 
190 00 
128 00 

96 00 
600 25 

81 00 
355 30 
176 00 
151 00 

90 00 


Acre-feet. 
40.11 
47.07 
19.68 
27.23 
18.88 
13.12 
80.06 
15.79 
26.96 
14.67 
14.23 
11.70 


S78. 52 
70.69 
37.27 
43.65 
36.19 
36.40 

185.76 
54.11 
82.40 
43.48 
38.40 
42.54 


Cents. 
$1, 958 4. .-^.T 


Acres. 
100 


2 


1.502 
1.894 
1.603 
1.917 
2.774 
2.320 
3.426 
3.056 
2.962 
2.699 
3.636 


4.42 
4.74 
5.73 
6.18 
6.45 
7.25 
7.79 
8.73 
8.98 
9.63 
13.00 


104 6 


3 


68 


4 


63 


5 ... 


41 5 


6 


35 


7 


220 


8 


60 


9 


120 


10 


48.5 


11 


28 


12 


20 







o Centrifugal pumps. Figvire indicates number or size. H= horizontal, V= vertical, T=turbine. 

The last column shows the number of acres to which water was 
applied once; for instance, plant No. 7 irrigated 110 acres twice, 
which is equivalent to irrigating 220 acres once. 

The following table shows the number of times the crop was irri- 
gated and the cost of applying the water to that crop: 



GROUND WATER IN LODGEPOLE VALLEY, WYO.-NEBR. 69 

Number and cost of irrigations at certain pumping plants in Nebraska in 1914. 





Crop irri- 
gated. 


Area 
irrigated, 
in acres. 


Num- 
ber of 
irriga- 
tions. 


Water applied. 


Cost. 


Plant No. 


Total, in 
acre-feet. 


Acre- 
inches per 
acre. 


Per acre. 


Per 
acre- 
inch 


1 


Com 

Beets 

Corn 

...do 

.do 


40.0 
37.3 
25 
20 
10 
35 
110 
3 
60 
48 
12 
20 


2 
2 
2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
3 
2 
1 
2 
1 


30.29 
32.86 
14.62 
15.05 

9.38 
13.12 
80.06 

1.76 
26.96 
13.54 
10.66 
11.70 


9.09 

10.56 
7.02 
9.03 

11.25 
4.50 

16.01 
7.04 
5.39 
3.39 

10.66 
7.02 


81. 482 
1.322 
1.104 
1.206 
1.754 
1.040 
1.689 
2.008 
1.373 
.835 
2.397 
2.127 


$0. 16? 
12? 


2 


3 


158 


4 

5 


.133 
160 


6 


do 


231 


7 


...do 


.106 


8 


..do 


290 


9 


do 


255 


10 - 


do 


247 


11 


.do 


225 


12 


do 


303 









o 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 708 346 6 



I 



